New test kit

Ive been informed that my new bench PSU is awaiting me in the works postroom. My current bench supply is ok, but its an ancient 0-30V 500mA unit, that severely restricts what I can power!

So, ive taken a punt on a new unit from China, although supplied out of a UK based drop-shipper as its taken only 2 working days to arrive!

This is a 0-30V 0-5A unit, so should be far more versatile! Of course, the old one will stay on the bench, always good to have a choice.

Ive also, after reading lots of reviews and recommendations, ordered a new multimeter. Hopefully this will be more reliable than the cheapo little DVMs ive been using.

In light of the fault finding ive been doing recently I think these are probably a good investment! Now, if only I could find a 100MHz dual trace 'scope for under £50...

Also, ive ordered something in light of the work ive been doing on the Clansman PRC-349 conversion. The key to the conversion is the synthesiser mixer crystals. Ive scoured every supply I know of old units, and no one has anything suitable! Vince at IQD has some crystals that will do for testing initially, and I will talk to him about these in the next couple of days, but ultimately the correct frequencies will be needed, both for testing, and for final conversion. As custom crystals as one offs start at around £15 each, this is something I need to avoid until I can prove the conversion works. The, if theres enough interest, a bulk purchase at much lower unit cost could be arranged.

So, I need a way to simulate the crystals. This led me back to Hans Summers and QRPlabs.

QRPlabs do a Si5351A based VFO kit  http://qrp-labs.com/vfo.html

This will work to a couple of hundred MHz, and has two outputs, one can be selected as a fixed frequency, and one variable as VFO.  This would provide both conversion frequencies for the synthesiser. It will also be a very useful little stand alone unit on the bench for building receivers etc.

Theres little more I can do with the PRC-349s until I get either crystals or the VFO, but I can at least work on how best to open the modules to access the parts that require modification.